No. 630
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
May 10, 2022

Wanted to Sit by the Widow.

A ruffianly brawl at Haman's Hotel, Greensburg, Ind.
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May 10, 2022
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Tag: Brooklyn

Threatening an Umpire.

President Byrne saves the bones of umpire Jimmy Clinton from a severe and undeserved pounding at Brooklyn, N. Y.

5/31/2022

Fighting Marines.

Some of Uncle Sam’s land and water police have a genial shindy among themselves at the Navy Yard, Brooklyn, N. Y.

11/5/2015

Society Unveiled.

2/3/2014

Blood on the Moon.

4/16/2013
JOHN RILEY
alias: JOHN MURPHY
SNEAK, PICKPOCKET, SHOPLIFTER

Newspaper Clipping of the Day

Via Newspapers.comOne for the “mini mysteries” file: This unresolved poisoning case was reported in the “South Wales Argus,” February 8, 1934.How did cyanide of potassium, used for electro-plating, find its way into a teacup from which a girl of 20 drank tea and died shortly afterwards? This was the mystery inquired into at Sheffield on Wednesday.An inquest was held on the girl, Lilian Charlotte
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Strange Company - 10/28/2026

Convicts to Maryland, 1773 by Peter Dickson

  [Editor’s note: Guest writer, Peter Dickson, lives in West Sussex, England and has been working with microfilm copies of The Duncan Campbell Papers from the State Library of NSW, Sydney, Australia. The following are some of his analyses of what he has discovered from reading these papers. Dickson has contributed many transcriptions to the Jamaica […]
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Early American Crime - 2/7/2019
Amen.

Artifact #93: Soapy's son, hires attorney to stop the slurring of his father's name.

"As his son I am proud of hisefforts to succeed in life"Jefferson Randolph Smith IIIArtifact #93-2Jeff Smith collection(Click image to enlarge) oapy's son hires a legal firm to stop the defamation of his father's name. At age 30, Jefferson Randolph Smith III, Soapy and Mary's oldest son, was protecting his father's legacy and his mother's reputation from "libel" and scandal. He was also
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Soapy Smith's Soap Box - 10/13/2025

The Three Hangings, Lycoming County.

This week, we feature a guest post by Don Everett Smith Jr., author of The Goffle Road Murders of Passaic County (History Press, 2011).   In a previous post on Murder by Gaslight, “Revisiting the Goffle Road Murders,” Don presented an excerpt from his book. This week’s post, “The Three Hangings, Lycoming County,” examines the 1880 murder of Andrew Miller in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
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Murder By Gaslight - 10/24/2026
On the Russians.

1617: A miller of Manberna, the hangman’s last

Youth With Executioner by Nuremberg native Albrecht Dürer … although it’s dated to 1493, which was during a period of several years when Dürer worked abroad. November 13 [1617]. Burnt alive here a miller of Manberna, who however was lately … Continue reading →
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Executed Today - 11/13/2020
Snares for the Unwary. | Demi-Monde Excursion.

Wanted to Sit by the Widow.

sit-by-the-widow At the breakfast table at Haman's Hotel, Greensburg, Ind., C. C. Edwards, a dry goods merchant, occupied the seat or honor next to a fascinating and beautiful widow boarder. Dr. H Lee Millican, who is in love with the widow, wanted Mr. Edwards to exchange seats. This Mr. Edwards refused to do. Some hot words followed as to each gentleman's respective rights to a seat next to the lady, and It ended by the doctor flooring the merchant by a blow between the eyes. The case was then appealed to a justice's court, where it was settled to the satisfaction of all concerned.

Illustrated Police Gazette, October 23, 1886.

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